Former President Goodluck Jonathan has criticised the recurring trend among Nigerian governors of neglecting projects initiated by their predecessors, warning that the practice wastes public resources and stalls development.
Jonathan spoke on Wednesday, October 15, during the inauguration of the Best Western Plus Hotel in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He expressed disappointment that several landmark projects he began as governor were left uncompleted after he became Vice President in 2007.
He said, “As a first elected deputy governor of Bayelsa State, the governor then, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, started hosting African Movie Awards ceremonies that people from America, South Africa and others were coming; actors and actresses.
“It was a world event: you know all these celebrities, they live a sort of fantastic life, and in the first edition hosted, most of the external guests stayed in Port Harcourt because there was no hotel that you could see in Bayelsa State.
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“The idea of a state encouraging tourism is for tourists to spend their foreign money in the state to stimulate the local economy, so if the state is to spend on the programme that brings people all over the world and then the money will be spent in other states, that is a negative investment.”
Jonathan revealed that his administration had awarded contracts for a five-star Tower Hotel and two three-star hotels to promote tourism and attract investment to Bayelsa, but subsequent governments failed to complete them.
He said, “If they had done these three hotels, by now, visitors coming to Bayelsa State would have had a comfortable place to stay, but somehow, when I left, even people I mobilised, we didn’t see what they had done.
“That is the problem of government, when a governor leaves, the next governor doesn’t want to follow up, most of that money spent will go.”